Bulls will hang in for long term, analysts say

While the short-term trend on the market is uncertain, in the long-term investors will remain bullish on the Polish market, analysts said.
The short-term situation depends very much on government and taxes, said Grzegorz Szymanski, analyst at Bank Pekao brokerage house. The growing uncertainty over the future of the current government could be taking its toll, he said.
Also, the Finance Ministry currently is considering extending a preferential tax to select corporate investors, Szymanski said. On Jan. 1, the government removed a corporate tax exemption on capital gains. But now corporate investors from countries that don't have a tax treaty with Poland could find themselves victims of a double tax.
Overall the market can look forward to great interest from investors this year, with Poland's gross domestic product of 6% for 1995 being the fastest growing in Europe, Szymanski said.
Only nine companies out of the 67 listed made any gains last week. Two companies showed no share-price change and 56 losers clocked in on the week-by-week share price change.
Top gainer of the week was brewing company Zywiec, up 5% on the week. The company has traditionally been a favorite with investors. Mostostal-Warszawa, up 4.6%, came in second. The company announced last week that it had won a zl. 45 million ($18 million) contract to build a plant for Huta Miedzi Glogow, a KGHM Polska Miedz copper manufacturer.
Another company on the uptrend was trading company Elektrim, up 4.55% on the week, continuing its sharp rise of the week before. The company's fortunes have had a turnaround recently on the exchange. Elektrim's share price dropped 23% from January to December 1995. Recently renewed investor interest in Elektrim could be due to the company's involvement in the GSM tender, said Piotr Marczewski, broker with AmerBrokers. Elektrim stayed in the shadows for a long time, but now investors are realizing that the company will give potential long-term gains, he said. The company's financial performance should improve as well, as Elektrim has been streamlining its holding company to reduce costs, he said. The company sold part of its stake in formerly state-owned company Indukta in the latter half of 1995. Elektrim announced early this week that it had sold part of Indukta to Luxembourg-based holding company Interelektra for zl. 5 million ($2 million) and to Italian company Elektropol Cantoni for zl. 2.5 million ($1 million). Other companies tweaking investor interest are the tire producers Stomil Olsztyn and Debica, Marczewski said. With strategic investors, French tire giant Michelin and U.S. Goodyear respectively, the two companies should become the biggest tire makers within Central and Eastern Europe, he said.